New book tackles implications of medical error

(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) February 1, 2018 – As the third-leading cause of death in the United States, preventable medical harm is an all-too prevalent, but often overlooked issue in today’s healthcare system.

In her debut book “The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare – A Strategic Approach Toward Eliminating Preventable Harm,” published by Routledge, PM Health Care Consulting LLC President Patricia Morrill of Caledonia, Wis. addresses the challenging and troubling topic of medical error through her riveting first-hand account of the sequence of events leading up to her mother’s death, just three months after elective knee-replacement surgery.

First chapter of the book serves as a case study with Morrill painting a detailed step-by-step portrait of the various interactions, decisions and procedures carried out by her mother’s physicians and healthcare team related to her knee replacement surgery, initial rehabilitation, infection diagnosis, rapid health deterioration and eventual death.

In the second part of the book, Morrill draws on her 30 years of experience in healthcare to present a discussion guide suitable for a medical team environment, with a heavy emphasis on how human factors influence a patient’s care experience.

Morrill suggests strategies for addressing the implications of medical error by asking a series of pointed questions designed to stimulate healthcare teams to develop their own answers.

This includes a study of Morrill’s own 10-step model of “Process Improvement Strategy Deployment,” which supplies potential solutions to preventable harm through the integration of Lean and project management methodologies for process improvement and problem solving.

“My main goal in writing this book is to provide a 360 view of the issue of medical error as it pertains to patients, families, physicians, workforce, leaders and culture,” Morrill said. “The third leading cause of death needs to be talked about now. Everyone needs to understand their role in changing that statistic.”

Morrill, who has published several articles on risk assessment in the healthcare field, developed the idea to write “The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare” after heading up a hospital leadership development series through work at PM Healthcare Consulting.

“Shortly after my mother died, I was contacted by a hospital to do a leadership development workshop and coaching series,” Morrill said. “I needed a patient scenario to illustrate a lack of coordinated care and I thought of my mother’s story immediately. That is when I started to realize the depth of the issue. The more I used my mother’s story as an example, the more it resonated with the people I was working with at the hospital.

Patricia Morrill of PM Healthcare Consulting has published her first book, “The Perils of Un-coordinated Healthcare-A Strategic Approach Toward Eliminating Preventable Medical Harm,” which includes a case study focused on Patricia’s first-hand account of preventable medical harm at play in the three-month process of her late mother’s knee replacement surgery, subsequent rehab and ultimate health decline.

“That is when I began to think that my mother’s story could serve as an example to others of how medical error can arise in a very common type of knee surgery,” she said. “Medical error can happen to anyone, anywhere at any time. I wanted to let people know how this can happen and to stress that if they see something in their own care or a loved one’s care that seems questionable, they need to be an advocate and speak up.”

Morrill wrote the book with healthcare executives and their teams specifically in mind.

“My hope is that healthcare executives will share this book with their teams and use it for team training purposes,” Morrill said. “I designed it to generate open discussion, critical thought, self-assessment and deep-rooted strategic planning in the healthcare community.

“Ultimately, my hope is that this book can help to make preventable harm a more discussable topic among healthcare professionals and throughout our society,” she said.

To arrange an interview with Patricia Morrill or to obtain additional information regarding “The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare – A Strategic Approach Toward Eliminating Preventable Harm” or to inquire about PM Healthcare Consulting services, contact Jeff Pederson at Pedal Down Promotions via email at pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com by phone at 920-323-7970 or online at www.pedaldownpromotions.com.

About the Author

Patricia Morrill has 30 years of experience in healthcare, is a project management professional, Lean and Six Sigma certified, and accredited in Evidence-Based Design. As the president of PM Healthcare Consulting LLC in Caledonia, Wis., Patricia partners with executives to provide comprehensive coaching and training to lead change and raise process improvement to a strategic level. In 2012, Patricia authored the 10-step “Process Improvement Strategy Deployment” model, as described in this book, to enhance performance in driving change. “The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare – A Strategic Approach Toward Eliminating Preventable Harm” is Patricia’s first book. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and working pet therapy dog. Patricia can be reached at www.pmhcconsulting.com.